Inspiring Scotland
“Salesforce has truly transformed the way we manage our volunteer network and funds, freeing us from time-consuming manual processes.
Giving us more time to focus on what matters—making a real impact for disadvantaged communities across Scotland.”
– Elaine Crichton, Specialist Volunteer Network Executive and Fund Manager, Inspiring Scotland
Inspiring Scotland
Inspiring Scotland inspires people, communities, organisations, and government to work together to drive social change and transform lives.
The organisation has partnered with charities for over a 15 years, gaining in-depth knowledge about the challenges people face and optimising a range of interventions based on a shared knowledge of what works.
Last year, Inspiring Scotland supported 350 organisations and 477 support requests from the sector for the Specialist Volunteer Network team. Match making volunteers with charities who need support, like our very own CEO, Elaine who was matched with Calum's Cabin.
Before adopting Salesforce, Inspiring Scotland faced challenges managing its extensive volunteer network and tracking the impact of the non-financial support provided to charities. Their processes were largely manual, relying on spreadsheets to track volunteer hours and feedback. This approach not only consumed valuable time but also hindered their ability to tell the full story of their impact.
A Challenging Time For Their Team
Managing over 500 volunteers and responding to around 334 requests for support last year is no small feat. Before implementing Salesforce, the Inspiring Scotland team was drowning in spreadsheets. Each month, they spent hours manually sending emails to volunteers to gather updates on their activities. Elaine Crichton reflected on the frustration of their previous system:
"I used to hate the last Friday of the month because I’d spend all day sending 40 to 50 personalised emails to volunteers, just to gather information. It was exhausting and time-consuming.”
Tracking impact, managing timesheets, and reporting on non-financial support, which generated £400K in value last year, became overwhelming.
Why They Chose Salesforce To Unlock Our Challenges
Inspiring Scotland needed a robust, automated system that could handle the complexity of their operations and free up time for the team to focus on strategic activities. Salesforce offered exactly what they needed—a single platform to manage everything from volunteer data for the Specialist Volunteer Team and more broadly to manage grant applications and payments across Inspiring Scotland We of course brought our Specialist Volunteer Network into helping solve the data management problem and our own in house IT team developed bespoke solutions for some parts of the process.
Elaine explained how the transition to Salesforce has been a game-changer:
"We moved from spreadsheets to Salesforce, and it’s been brilliant. Now, Tommy can hit a button on Friday, and all the timesheet requests go out automatically to volunteers. It saves us hours every month, allowing us to focus on the real, human elements of our work.”
The Charities Salesforce Solution
Salesforce enabled Inspiring Scotland to streamline their operations, automating key processes like timesheet management, matching volunteers with charities and reporting. Volunteers now receive automated requests for updates, and their timesheets are directly linked to the system, allowing the team to calculate the financial equivalent of their support. This data is then shared internally across the Fund Teams and externally with the charities, helping them understand the value of the pro bono services they receive.
Tommy Seymour, SVN Coordinator and Fund Manager at Inspiring Scotland noted how Salesforce has also improved their ability to manage funds and communicate with stakeholders, and shared:
"Everything from application assessments to payments can now be handled through Salesforce. It allows us to generate detailed reports for the Scottish Government and our other funders, providing a clear audit trail and ensuring accountability."
Working With Hyphen8
Hyphen8 has a huge amount of experience and expertise i lots of different nonprofit areas.
What sets Hyphen8 apart is our collaborative approach and deep understanding of the clients' needs. Our team don’t just provide a solution; they involve and empower the client’s in-house team throughout the process. For AdviceUK, this meant working closely with their team to integrate their expertise with Hyphen8’s advanced customisations, resulting in an effective and sustainable solution.
Silvia shared, "We really enjoyed working with Hyphen8 because they understood our need to maintain in-house expertise.
They didn't waste our time on tasks we could handle ourselves but focused on the complex customizations we couldn’t manage alone.
Hyphen8’s ability to speak the same technical language and their willingness to let us own the solution made the collaboration successful."
Why Elaine and Tommy Recommend Salesforce
For Inspiring Scotland, Salesforce has become a vital part of their operations. It has helped them improve their volunteer management, track and report on non-financial support, and streamline their fund management processes.
By consolidating everything into one platform, they have gained a comprehensive view of their impact and can ensure a higher level of accountability.
"Salesforce is brilliant because it’s given us a clear audit trail for everything we do. If I talk to a charity leader, I can link the conversation back into Salesforce, so there’s always a record. It’s a rich source of information that helps us work more efficiently," said Elaine.
If you'd like to find out about the incredible work Inspiring Scotland do, please visit their website, where you look at how to volunteer and get involved.
